Splitting machine



NOV. 29, E. L, BUTLER SPLITTING MACHINE E-Shets-Sheet 1 Filed June 7, 1937 SPLITTIN'G MACHINE Filed June 7, 1937 3 SheetsSheet 5 6/ Fig.7.

E. L. BUTLER ,138,022

Patented Nov. 29, 1938 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE Application June 7, 1937, Serial No. 146,712

14 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for operating upon sheet material such as leather and is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine for removing a flesh split from a piece of leather and for increasing the length of thesplit.

When a piece of leather is split, particularly a piece of heavy leather such as sole leather, the flesh split removed is in many cases considerably shorter than the original piece. This efiect may be due to the crimping of the comparatively thin flesh split by the action of the commonly employed fluted feed roll of a splitting machine or it may be due in whole or in part to the progressive compression of the fibers of the flesh between the locality where the piece is gripped by the feed rolls and the locality where it is engaged by-the edge of the knife which offers considerable resistance to the feed movement of the piece. In any event, the phenomenon of shortening occurs, more often with some kinds of leather than with others, and is, for

example, particularly troublesome in the splitting of sole blanks into complementary insoles and outsoles which are to be used in the manufacture of shoes, since a given insole is liable to be too short for use with the outsole for use with which it was intended.

To this end, according to one feature of the invention, there is provided mechanism for removing from a piece of leather a flesh split and mechanism for increasing the length of the split. In the illustrated construction the splitting mechanism comprises a fixed knife and a pair of feed rolls, and the flesh split passes from the splitting mechanism between pressure rolls which act to increase its length, for example to restore to the shortened split the length which it originally occupied in the piece of leather.

In a shoe the insole is of smaller outline than the outsole, and in the manufacture from a sole blank of an insole and an outsole it is common, before splitting a blank, to outline the insole on its flesh side by a cut the depth of which is equal to the desired thickness of the. insole. After this outlining operation the sole blank is split by a out which intersects the bottom of the outlining out. There thus results from the splitting operation not only a flesh split in the form of an insole but a narrow waste chip. During the passage of the insole from the splitting mechanism to the pressing mechanism, particularly if these two mechanisms are spaced considerably apart, the waste chip is liable to be displaced in such manner as torest upon a face of the insole and to be carried through the pressing mechanism with the insole thereby disfiguring the insole.

In order to prevent such undesirable occurrences and in accordance with another'fe'ature of the invention means is provided for preventing the chip from becoming lodged upon the insole. In the illustrated machine the insole'is caused to pass through an opening between two plates one of which is stationary and the other of which is mounted for swinging movement to-' ward and from the stationary plate.- When the leading end of the insole arrives in position between the plates, the movable plate is' swung toward the stationary plate just far enough so that the opening between the plates, through which the insole passes, is just wide enough to permit such passage. 7

These and other features of the invention, including certain details of construction and combinations of parts will be described as embodied in an illustrated machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a machine in which the present invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a. perspective of a rounded sole blank upon the flesh side of which the insole to be split off has been outlined;

Fig. 3 is a plan of the'pressing mechanism;

Fig.4 is a section on the line IV--IV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line VV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 isaside elevation of the machine; and

Fig- '7 is a detail partly in plan and partly in section showing the gearing for driving the feed roll .of' the pressing mechanism.

The illustrated machine is one which is used in the production from asole blank of a sole having a projection on its forepart and an insole having a correspondingly located complementary opening; and-is adapted to operate upon a previously rounde'dsole blank upon the flesh side of which the. outline of the insole has been cut to the desired depth,that is to a depth equal tothe thickness of the insole which is to be split off from the sole blank. A machine for rounding a sole blank and outlining the insole is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,057,665, granted October 20, 1936, upon an application filed in the name of Frederic E. Bertrand. A sole blank, after it has been operated uponby such a machine, is shown at it!) (Fig. 2) the outline of the insole being indicated by lines 200 and 300. It will be noted that, in the particular example of Work chosen for illustration, the outline 200 of the forepart of the insole which is to be split off and the outline 360 of the rear part of said insole are each smaller than the outline of the corresponding localities of the sole blank, but that through their shank portions the outlines of the insole and that of the sole blank coincide. When this blank is put through the illustrated machine, which is provided with a stationary knife, and with matrix and patrix rolls, the blank is split into a comparatively thin insole and a comparatively thick outsole, the outsole having a projection on its forepart and the insole having a correspondingly located complementary opening, the location of the cut through the flesh face of the blank being indicated at the dotted line 400. During this operation two narrow waste strips or chips will be produced, a rear part strip which, before it was cut off, occupied the locality 50B, and a forepart strip which occupied the locality 600. In those cases in which the outline of the insole is at all points smaller than that of the sole blank, only a single endless waste strip will be produced when the sole blank is split.

Before describing what is new in the machine, that which is old will be briefly outlined. In general, except for certain new parts to be described in detail below, the splitting mechanism of the machine is or may be the same as that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,082,057, granted June 1, 1937, upon an application filed in the name of Charles E. Hood, the only difference being that in the machine of the application, the matrix roll engages the flesh side of the sole blank and the patrix roll engages the grain side, while in the machine of the present application, these rolls are transposed. There are two matrices on the matrix roll and two patrices on the patrix roll so that two sole-shaped blanks may be put through the machine at the same time.

The splitting mechanism comprises a stationary knife II, a matrix roll l3 and a patrix roll l5. Two sole blanks, upon which the insoles to be split off may or may not have been outlined, are placed upon the inclined supporting surface of a carrier, part of which is shown at H, said carrier being normally in raised position. A

treadle is depressed, whereupon the rolls start to revolve and the carrier moves down to advance the sole blanks properly to the bite of the rolls. After the blanks have been gripped by the rolls and fed forward a certain distance, the carrier is raised. The rolls are caused to make one revolution during which the sole blanks are each split into an insole and an outsole, the outsoles, one of which is shown at 100, passing over the knife and the insoles, one of which is shown at 800, together with the waste chips (if present) passing beneath the knife. The matrix roll I3 is rotatably mounted in alined bearings near the middle of a roll carrier comprising two parallel arms, one of which is shown at l9, said arms carrying at their upper ends alined trunnions, one of which is shown at 2 I, rotatably mounted in the frame of the machine. Coiled springs, one of which is shown at 23, tend at all times to 'swing the arms and with them the matrix roll away from the knife. In order to adjust the matrix roll into proper position with respect to the knife, a slide rod 25 is provided lengthwise adjustment of which, through mechanism not shown, adjusts the matrix roll in opposition to the coiled springs 23 and holds it in adjusted position. The patrix roll I5 is mounted in a manner similar to that of the matrix roll. It is rod 33 is provided lengthwise adjustment of 1 which, through mechanism not shown, limits said movement. When the machine comes to rest the patrix roll has been moved into and is held in a position such that its distance from the matrix roll is just slightly less than the thickness of the blanks to be split. It is so held during the first part of the splitting operation. During the splitting operation, however, it is released so that, due to the springs 3|, it will grip the blank more firmly until the splitting operation is completed. Subsequently, and before the patrix roll comes to rest, it is moved away from the matrix roll and comes to rest in that position. These bodily movements of the patrix roll toward and from the matrix roll are brought about by movement of a third slide rod 35 through mechanism not shown, said slide rod being automatically moved lengthwise first in one direction and then in the other at the proper times. The splitting mechanism which has been briefly outlined above will not be described further since the details of its construction form no part of the present invention, and any splitting mechanism may be employed. It will be understood, however, that the Work is fed past the knife H by the rolls I3, [5, and that after the splitting operation is well under way, the slide rod 35 is automatically moved lengthwise.

It has been explained above that when a piece of leather is split, particularly a piece of heavy leather such as sole leather, the flesh-split-in the illustrated case the ins01eis usually shorter than its original length in the piece before it was split off. In order to remedy this condition, the illustrated machine is provided with mechanism for applying pressure to the flesh-split to increase its length.

Fastened by bolts 53 (Fig. 1) to the under side of the main portion of the frame of the ma chine is an auxiliary frame 5| to support the rolls which act to increase the length of the two insoles which are simultaneously split from the two sole blanks fed to the machine. There are three of these rolls (Fig. 3), a long knurled driven feed roll 55 and two shorter idle presser rolls 51, 59. The shaft of the feed roll 55 carries a bevel gear 6| which is driven from the main shaft of the machine in a manner presently to be described. The presser rolls 51, 59 are mounted so that they may yield away from the feed roll 55 and may also tilt lengthwise. The presser roll 59 has at its right-hand end (Fig. 3) a trunnion 63 and at its left-hand end a trunnion 65. The trunnion 63 is rotatably mounted in a bearing block 61 slidable in a guideway formed in the auxiliary frame 5|, said bearing block being pivoted at 68 to the inner end of the stem of a screw 69 which passes loosely through a sleeve H. A coiled compression spring 13 rests with one end against an end of the sleeve and with the other against the bearing block 61. The sleeve is threaded through a bore in the auxiliary frame 5| and may be advanced or retracted to vary the tension of the spring 13. A washer and a locknut 15 serve to lock the sleeve in ad- 19, 8| to the upper end of the stem of a screw 83' which passes loosely through a sleeve85. A coiled spring 81 bears with one end against the one end of the sleeve 85 and at the other end against a washer 39 which in turn bears against the ends of the links 19, 8|. The sleeve may be turned to vary the force of the springand may be held in position by a washer and a locknut 93. The inner end of the screw 83 extends betweenthe links 19, 8| and is connected to them by a pivot pin SI, the holes in the links through which the ends of the pin 9| pass being of a diameter'somewhat larger than that of the pin so that there is a little lost motion. A second pivot pin 93 connects the links 19, BI to a reduced portion or tongue on the bearing block 11, this pin also being of a smaller diameter than are the holes in the links 19, 8I through which its ends pass. The presser roll 51 is mounted in exactly the same manner as is the presser roll 59, the right-hand trunnion 95 of the roll 51 being rotatably mounted in a bearing block 91 which is like the bearing block 11 and is connected to the two triangular links 19, 8! by a pivot pin 95 of smaller diameter than the holes in the links through which it passes. The trunnions IIlI at the left-hand end of the roll 51 is mounted exactly as is the trunnion 63 at the right-hand end of the presser roll 59, being rotatable in a slidable bearing block which is pivoted to the inner end of the stern of a screw I03 and supported by a coiled spring I05, the tension of which may be varied by turning a threaded sleeve I01.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the driven feed roll 55 and the presser rolls, one of which is shown at 51, are located substantially beneath the edge of the split ting knife II in position to receive the leading ends of the insoles, one of which is shown at 85E], before their trailing ends have been split off from the sole blanks. These insoles, which are split from the flesh sides of the blanks, then pass, one between the feed roll 55 and the feed roll 51 and the other between the feed roll 55 and the presser roll 59, and during this passage are subjected to the desired pressure. It will be noted (Fig. 3) that the pressure applied to the insoles may be varied by varying the tension of the three springs 13, 81 and I55, and that the presser rolls 51, 59 may yield to accommodate insoles of different thicknesses and may also tilt lengthwise to accommodate insoles the opposite edges of which are not of the same thickness, such tilting being possible by reason of the loose fits of the pivots SI, 93, 59 in their respective holes in the triangular links 19, 8I.

The feed rolls 55 of the pressing mechanism is driven by the gearing shown in Figs. 6 and '1.

The bevel gear which is fast to the end ,of theroll'55, meshes with a bevel gear I II at the lower end of an inclined shaft mounted in a bracket H3 which is bolted to the frame. At the upper end of this shaft is fastened a bevel gear II5 which meshes with a bevel gear H1 at one end of a short shaft H9 the other end of which carries a gear IZI, said last-named gear in turn meshing with a gear I23 on the driving shaft I25.

By subjecting flesh-splits to rolling pressure the force of which-may be varied, splits which are shorter than the pieces from; which they were split or which are shorter than the length they occupied in the original piece may be lengthened, the pressure used being varied in accordance with the nature of the leather which is being operated upon and the extent of lengthening desired.

In splitting sole blanks of the kind shown in Fig. 2 in which the insole to be split off is outlined and a waste chip or chips are formed at the same time that the insole is split off, there is a liability that the chip or chips may become lodged upon the face of the insole and be carried in that position between the rolls of the pressing mechanism. Such an undesirable occurrence, which disfigures the insole, is particulaly liable to happen in case that two waste chips such as those indicated at 550 and 600 in Fig. 2 are produced. Each sole blank 100 (Fig. 1) is fed toe end foremost so that the insole which is split off travels toe end foremost to the rolls of the pressing mechanism. Ordinarily the forepart chip 650 is caught at its toe end by said rolls and is carried between them- Without any part of this chip being pressed against a face of the insole. The rear end of the rear part chip. 550, however, frequently falls over upon the face of the insole, and in that position is carried between the rolls of the pressing mechanism. In order to avoid this undesirable occurrence, means located in advance of the pressing mechanism provides a narrow opening through which the insole passes so as to prevent chips from becoming lodged upon either face ofthe insole. To this end, the insole is caused to pass between a wall or plate I21 (Fig. 1) on one side of the insole and two walls or plates I25, I3! on the other side so as to maintain the chipsubstantially in the plane of the insole during movement of the insole and chip toward the pressing mechanism. The plates I21, I3I are stationary plates riveted or otherwise fastened to a part of the frame of the machine. The plate I29 is pivoted to the. frame at I33; and, through the action of .the slide rod 35, is swung at the proper time from its normal position of rest (Fig. 6) "to its operative position (Fig. 1). The three plates I21, I29, I3I have a width greater than that of two insoles. The plate I21 (Fig. 6) has in its upper part a hole through which passes a tension spring I35, said spring being fastened at its right-hand end to the upper part of the pivoted plate IZQand at its left-handend to the frame of the machine, thereby tending at all times to pull the plate I29 to the left. In the position of parts shown in Fig. 6, which is the position of rest, the plate. I 29 is being held swung to the right by a cam having an inclined face I31, said cam being formed on a split block I39 which is clamped to the slide rod 35 by pinch bolts, one of which is shown at MI. The cam face I31 engages the end of an adjustable screw I53 which is threaded through a boss on the swinging plate I29' and'is heldin adjusted position by a locknut, the left-hand end of the screw passing through a hole in the lower part of the stationary plate I21. As has been explained the machine comes to rest with the patrix roll held away from the matrix roll by the action of the slide rod 35 a distance slightly less than the thickness of the blanks which are to be split; After the splittingoperation has proceeded fora certain extent, the slide rod is moved (away from the observer as viewed in Fig.'6).to release the patrix roll. By this time the toe ends of themsolesswhich are being split offextend between the upper parts .of the .plates ;I21 and I29. When.

the slide rod 35 is moved to release the patrix roll, the screw I43 rides down the inclined cam face I31, and the spring I35 swings the plate 129 to the left into the position shown in Fig. 1. It is necessary that the insoles which are being split ofi from the sole blanks and are moving down toward the rolls of the pressing mechanism should not be gripped between the upper edges of the plates I21, I29. The distance between the upper edges of the plates should be just suflicient to permit the insoles to pass freely between said edges. In order to regulate this distance, two adjustable stop screws are provided, one of which is indicated in Fig. 6 at I45, these screws being threaded through bosses on the pivot plate I29 and being adapted, when this plate is swung toward the left, to strike the plate I21.

When a sole blank such as that shown in Fig. 2 is operated upon, the forepart chip 689 practically always remains in its original position. The rear end of the rear-part chip 500, however, usually falls over upon one face of the insole and is directed to one side and finally separated from the insole during its passage through the opening between the upper ends of the plates I21, I29. In some cases, however, the rear-part chip, like the forepart chip, remains substantially in the plane of the insole. In any case, the chips do not become lodged upon a face of the insole and in that position pass with the insole through the pressure-applying mechanism.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The sole blanks having insoles outlined on their flesh sides are placed in position upon the carrier I1 above the matrix and patrix rolls I3 and I5, and the treadle of the machine is depressed to cause the parts of the machine to go through one cycle and then come to rest. The matrix and patrix rolls begin to rotate. The carrier descends and advances the blanks to the matrix and patrix rolls which seize the blanks and feed them past the knife to split them into the complementary insole-outsole combination which has been described above. During the first part of the splitting operation the leading ends of the insoles travel into the space between the stationary plate I21 and the pivot plate I29 which is at this time in the position shown in Fig. 6. Presently the plate I29 is swung into the position shown in Fig. l to prevent the chips from lodging upon the faces of the insoles. The insoles, which are shortened somewhat by the splitting operation, pass first between the plates and then between the driven feed roll 55 and the presser rolls 51, 59, said rolls acting to increase the lengths of the insole preferably to that of their outlines in the blanks before the blanks were split.

Although the work chosen for illustration consists of a sole blank having an insole outlined thereon and the machine not only splits ofi a chip as well as an insole but an insole of a particular shape, that is one having an opening in its forepart, it should be understood that the invention it limited neither to the particular work nor the particular machine which has been shown and described.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for removing from a piece of leather a flesh split in such manner that the split is shortened in the process of removal,

and mechanism independentof the mechanism for removing the split for progressively applying pressure to the split suificient to lengthen it.

2. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for removing from a piece of leather a flesh split in such manner that the split is shortened in the process of removal, mechanism independent of the mechanism for removing the split for progressively applying pressure to the split suflicient to lengthen it, and means for varying the pressure to vary the extent to which the split is lengthened.

3. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for removing from a piece of leather a flesh split in such manner that the split is shorter than the length which it originally occupied in the piece, and pressure rolls independent of the mechanism for removing the split between which the split is caused to pass from the splitting mechanism, said rolls exerting pressure sufficient to restore to the split the length which it occupied in the original piece.

4. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for removing from a piece of leather a flesh split in such manner that the split is shorter than the length which it originally occupied in the piece, and pressure rolls independent of the mechanism for removing the split between which the split is caused to pass from the splitting mechanism, one of said rolls being mounted for tilting movement, said rolls exerting pressure suflicient to restore to the split the length which it occupied in the original piece.

5. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism including a stationary knife and a pair of rolls for removing a flesh split from a piece of leather whereby the split is shorter than the length which it originally occupied in the piece, and pressure mechanism including a driven feed roll the axis of which is fixed and a cooperating tilting pressure roll between which the split is caused to pass from the splitting mechanism.

6. A machine for operating upon a sole blank to produce from it an insole and an outsole of the same length having, in combination, a stationary knife, a pair of rolls, means for rotating the rolls to force the blank past the knife so as to split the blank, the operation of the splitting mechanism acting to produce an insole which is shorter than the outsole, and means independent of the splitting mechanism for receiving the splitoff insole and for progressively applying suflicient pressure to it to increase its length.

7. A machine for operating upon a sole blank which has an insole outlined upon its flesh side to split the blank into a sole having a projection on its forepart and an insole having a similarly located complementary opening, said machine having, in combination, a stationary knife, a pair of rolls one of which is provided with a matrix, means for rotating the rolls to force the blank past the knife so as to split the blank into the desired insole and outsole, the operation of the splitting mechanism acting to produce an insole of a length less than that of its original outline in the blank, means for receiving the split-off insole and for progressively applying pressure to it to restore to it the length of said outline, and means for preventing the chip from passing in superposed position upon the insole through the pressure applying mechanism.

8. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for removing from a piece of sheet material a useful layer and a waste chip, mechanism for subsequently operating upon the layer, and means located between the two mechanisms for preventing the layer and the chip from passing in superposed position through the operating mechanism, said means comprising walls spaced apart to form a free passageway for the layer but not for the layer and chip when they are in superposed position.

9. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for removing from a piece of sheet material a useful layer and a waste chip, mechanism for subsequently applying pressure to the layer, and means located between the two mechanisms for preventing the layer and the chip from passing in superposed'position through the pressure applying mechanism.

10. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for removing from a piece of sheet material a useful layer and a waste chip, mechanism for subsequently operating upon the layer, and means located between the two mechanisms for preventing the layer and the chip from passing in superposed relation through the operating mechanism, said means comprising two plates relatively movable toward and from each other to provide a passageway of a width slightly reater than the thickness of the layer.

11. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for removing from a piece of sheet material a useful layer and a waste chip, mechanism for subsequently operating upon the layer, means located between the two mechanisms for preventing the layer and the chip from passing in superposed relation through the operating mechanism, said means comprising two plates relatively movable toward and from each other to provide a passageway of a width slightly greater than the thickness of the layer, and means for holding the operative ends of the plates wide apart until the leading end of the layer enters between them and for thereafter moving one plate toward the other to provide a passageway of the desired width.

12. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for removing from a piece of leather 9. flesh split and a chip of substantially the same thickness as that of the split, mechanism for subsequently applying pressure to the split, and means located between the two mechanisms for preventing the chip from becoming positioned upon a face of the split and in that position passing through the pressure applying mechanism, said means comprising walls spaced apart to form a passageway the width of which is slightly greater than the thickness of the split.

13. A machine of the class described having, in combination, mechanism for splitting from a soleshaped blank an insole which has been previously outlined upon one face of said blank whereby along with the insole there is split off a waste chip which extends around at least a portion of the insole, mechanism for progressively applying pressure to the insole to lengthen it, and means pressure to the insole to lengthen it, and means for preventing the chip from becoming located upon a face of the insole and remaining in that position during the application of pressure.

ERNEST L. BUTLER. 

